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Thursday, December 5, 2013

Universal shutting down production of “Fast & Furious 7”

Following Paul Walker’s death, Universal Pictures announced the production shut down of “Fast & Furious 7” on Wednesday as reported by The Wrap.

The studio’s statement: “Right now, all of us at Universal are dedicated to providing support to Paul’s immediate family and our extended ‘Fast & Furious’ family of cast, crew and filmmakers. At this time we feel it is our responsibility to shut down production on ‘Fast & Furious 7’ for a period of time so we can assess all options available to move forward with the franchise. We are committed to keeping ‘Fast & Furious’ fans informed, and we will provide further information to them when we have it. Until then, we know they join us in mourning the passing of our dear friend Paul Walker.”

Paul Walker played the lead role of cop turned criminal Brian O’Conner in the Fast & Furious franchise. The movie was completed halfway with certain integral Paul Walker scenes remaining to be shot.

The cast and crew were on a Thanksgiving break and the movie shoot was slated to resume this week in Atlanta, GA. But, the shooting was immediately cancelled after the tragedy.

It is still expected from the studio to make the movie. Given that “Fast & Furious 6” made$800 million, canning “Fast & Furious 7” could be really costly for the producers. The studio is yet to decide on the future of the film or franchise. Development of the eighth film had already started but now the focus has been shifted to “Fast & Furious 7”. The possibility of using a body double or special effects for Paul Walker was ruled out. They also considered scrapping the footage and starting from scratch. However, no decisions will be made for at least a few weeks. The movie was scheduled to release in July, 2014 which now seems an impossible feat.